Tax breaks for huge corporations; high taxes for the people (Pennsylvania...
Jonathan Humma, a writer for Keystone Liberty, details the tax breaks for Big Oil in the Pennsylvania state budget: As a part of a budget deal, some Democratic and Republican policymakers are...
View ArticleGiant no longer seeking local tax credits for new plant
Dennis Owens of ABC27, a local station in Pennsylvania, writes about something we don’t hear enough about. A company originally applied for special tax preferences from a local government agency, but...
View ArticleLobbyists could be subject to Pennsylvania’s open-records law
Some Pennsylvania lobbyists could become subject to the state’s open-records law, according to this piece by Dan Miller. Organizations that lobby on behalf of townships and other political bodies could...
View ArticlePLCB Chair Tastes Sour Grapes, Selects Probe
The Commonwealth Foundation comments on the unfair competition between a Pennsylvania state-run liquor brand and private liquor brands. You mean private enterprise doesn’t like government unfairly...
View ArticleNY and NJ Should Take a Lesson from Joplin Missouri, Cut Red Tape for Recovery
Against Crony Capitalism bemoans the regulations which hamper business freedom in NJ and NY. New Jersey, being part of the northeast is wrapped in red tape. Every time I head north of DC I can just...
View ArticleSteelers sue to get funds for more Heinz Field seats
Mark Belko at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes an article about the Pittsburgh Steelers football team suing the Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority in order to get funding for more...
View ArticleFilm Credits More Blooper Reel than Blockbuster
The Commonwealth Foundation points out that one of the main arguments for film tax credits, that the tax credit is necessary to bring film production to the state, doesn’t play out. In fact, most...
View ArticleShould Taxpayers Subsidize Chocolate Making?
The Commonwealth Foundation notes that the Hershey Company received $2 million from economic development programs in Pennsylvania. A prime example of this happened Tuesday, where taxpayers forked over...
View ArticleLabor Union Fights Liquor Store Privatization in Pennsylvania
Eric Boehm writes an article for Reason that addresses some cronyism occurring in Pennsylvania: The labor union that forms the backbone of opposition to Republican plans to privatize Pennsylvania’s...
View ArticlePA Turnpike officials received personal vehicles worth $28,000 each
Eric Boehm from the PA Independent writes about how the Pennsylvania turnpike have spent money in new cars for their chiefs and other spendthrift forms of consumption, ballooning their debt by 200...
View ArticlePA: Free Markets, Cheaper Booze
Bill McMorris at the Washington Free Beacon writes about liquor privatization in Pennsylvania, and the interest groups that are opposing it for their own benefit. Under the current regime, liquor and...
View ArticleThe Solar Panel Domino Effect, Bankruptcy of mirror manufacturer may disrupt...
Andrew Evans from The Washington Free Beacon reports the bankruptcy of Flabeg Solar, a mirror manufacturer from PA. The mirror manufacturer’s bankruptcy might severely affect the stability and economic...
View ArticleLicensing In Philadelphia
A poet who was paid $2,200 to perform a public reading at St. Joseph’s University was fined $10,000 by the city of Philadelphia four years later for failing to obtain a business privilege license – a...
View ArticleWhy the Fight Against Corporate Welfare is So Hard
Caterpillar, a company with a market cap of nearly $55 billion and 125,000 employees, wasn’t sure if it wanted to stay in York County, PA, an agricultural county in southern PA. Faced with the threat...
View ArticleGetting Rich off the Government Liquor Monopoly
The Commonwealth Foundation highlights the curious role change of one state employee: This year, Conti resigned under the cloud of an ethics investigation into allegations that he took gifts from PLCB...
View ArticlePLCB’s costly inventory system
The Commonwealth Foundation points out an expensive mistake by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board: Not long ago, they poured $66 million in taxpayer money—nearly two-and-a-half times the estimated...
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The Rise of the Land Bank
Last month Philadelphia became the largest city to create a land bank agency. The Herald Tribune reports: While land banks have been around for decades in cities like St. Louis, newer versions are...
View ArticleShould governments provide support for research and development?
Pennsylvania offers tax credits for research and development, and has hit its capped total – currently $55 million. This raises a question: should governments be providing tax credits for R&D? Why?...
View ArticleState Liquor Monopoly
The Commonwealth Foundation highlights concerning activity at the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board: The violations include: accepting gifts from vendors who had ongoing contracts with the PLCB, using...
View ArticlePennsylvania Joins List of States Banning Uber and Lyft
In the government’s never-ending march against innovation, Pennsylvania has joined the growing list of states that are banning ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft. It is hardly surprising that...
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